Captured
by Ambrosia Rush
Summary: It was suppose to be easy. Go in. Get the intel. Get out. Simple. Unfortunately that isn't how it happens and Deeks and Nell end up locked a tiny room together.


**For **_**Ensign Cole**_** who pointed out the lack of Deeks/ Nell stories. Sorry it took so long!**

"So... this didn't go according to plan," Deeks muttered wiping blood from his hairline. The case had been so simple- Deeks would go in with Nell, he would bull shit their way into the tech room, Nell would hack the server, they would have the information and would even have time to stop for gelato before going back to the office. It was suppose to be easy, get in, get out, get ice cream.

What actually happened was Deeks had gone in with Nell, he'd spouted bull shit about the company being on a list of potential threats and they needed their analyst- Nell- to sweep through their system to ensure document safety, while Nell would be doing that and on the side finding any information pertaining to their kidnapped marine. She'd gotten on to the computer, Deeks had been looking over her shoulder- after all the scrawny, spectacled, computer geek didn't exactly look like he was about to start a fight, especially since he was sweating profusely and looking at Nell as if she was the light of life.

Things were going great.

When the door opened and the CEO- who they suspected had kidnapped their missing marine- along with his buddies came in things took turn for the worse. Deeks had gone on the defensive, but was gunless since he had known he'd have to get through the metal detectors at the entrance. He had held his own in the fight till a hit to the head caused him to see stars and the sight in his right eye had become obscured by blood that was flowing profusely.

"Let me go!"

Deeks had turned to see the ruthless CEO had his hand in Nell's hair holding her in place and a knife to her throat. "Grab him," the CEO had ordered his guards and the two of them took hold of Deeks from either side.

They'd been locked up in a room in the basement and Deeks was increasing aware of their dwindling odds. He couldn't tell if they were being kept for a reason, or if they were just outside discussing the best way to dispose of the bodies.

Nell was pacing, her mind was going a hundred miles a minute. She was a control freak, and it had only taken seconds for the situation to go completely and utterly out of her hands. She wrung her hands, put them through her hair- her head still ached and she could practically feel the man's hand still there pulling as he'd lead her through the corridors and into this tiny room. Was it getting smaller? There seemed to be less air, and she was taking it in, in great panicked gulps.

"Nell," Deeks came up behind her and wrapped a arm around her waist, his chin resting on her shoulder, "you need to slow your breathing Nell," his tone was low and calming as he pulled her right up to him, "you're hyperventilating Nell, and I need you to keep a cool head okay? I need you to slow down. Breathe with me, feel how I'm breathing." Her breathing just seemed to get a strange edge and a little strangled as she tried to slow it. "Breathe in Nell," he waited until she did but she breathed out just as quick. "Nell," his voice continued in the same low tone. "Nell, I'm not going to let anything happen to you, okay. I've got you."

"We," she took in a great gulp of air, "are so screwed! We're never getting out of here," her breath erratic as she looked around wildly. "Is the room getting smaller?"

He turned her around and pulled her to his chest, holding her there so she couldn't look at the walls. "No they're not," he insisted in a calming monotone and she could hear the rumble of his voice reverberating in his chest. "We're going to be just fine. I'm going to get you out of here. If I didn't I'd have to answer to Callen... and Sam... and Kensi... and Eric...and then Hetty... or maybe Hetty would get to me first, she is a ninja."

She let out a shaky laugh and he let out a breath as he surveyed the room, "I need you to just try to match your breathing to mine, can you do that Nell?"

She nodded into his shirt. She was terrified and she was pretty sure her neck was bleeding but really didn't want to check. She'd seen Deeks's face while they were in the tech room, bleeding from a gash on his head and yet here he was trying to convince her that it was all going to be okay. She was known for her control but here she was so out of her depths she was hanging on to Deeks for dear life as she tried to match her erratic breathing to his slow deep rhythmic ones.

"It's drafty in here," Deeks muttered and she risked looking up at him. He'd looked like he had just lost a fight... which he had, there was a bruise forming on his jaw line and his part of his shaggy blond locks were slicked with blood and he pushed the hair back and rubbed the blood from his forehead before it ran back into his eye again.

"So," she muttered helplessly. She was confident, she was in control... with a computer. Being sent in to the field wasn't part of her job description. She wasn't prepared for things like this. "You think the team has realized we're in trouble yet?"

"Yeah," Deeks lied- he knew damn well the rest of the team was busy, and worse, Nell had told them how long it would roughly take for her to get through the system- they hadn't even eaten through half that time yet, no one would have any idea they were in deep trouble.

The room was poorly lit, the only source of light was what came from around the door but their eyes had adjusted to the ill light long ago. Deeks was working through all kinds of scenarios in his head, and being stuck in this room with out a weapon was leaving him feeling less than optimistic about their odds.

There was something wrong about the lighting in the room... light and shadows danced in the wrong places. "Nell," Deeks's voice strong and smooth in her ear, "I got to look around, you going to move with me?"

She hated being the weak link but she nodded and her fingers gripped his shirt like a frightened child. He moved to the wall feeling it, his hands going over the hard cement blocks, he reached up and given his height and the low ceiling he could reach the highest corners and felt a metal vent. Where the draft was coming from and their was a slight light streaming through. He used his fingernail to press into part of the 'x' in the nailhead, he turned and eventually got the first far enough to twist it with his fingers and he let it fall to the floor before turning to the next one using the same technique except this time it cracked a hard line down his nail and left half of it hanging, he let out a grunt of pain and held the injured hand to his body.

"Deeks?" Nell whispered worriedly, "you okay?"

"Yeah," Deeks muttered bending down leaving Nell floundering her hands touching the cool walls and she tried to keep her breath even. Deeks stood back up with the nail in hand and used the top bit sideways to turn the others out. With the last nail out and dropped to the ground he took down the metal plate. "Should lead outside, this use to be a boiler room- extra heat would go out here."

"Won't there be another vent on the other side though?"

"Yeah," Deeks responded gripping her shoulders and bending down to her eye level, "that's why you're going to go in feet first so you can kick the other one out."

"What?" Nell was panicking again, she had some issues with claustrophobia and being taken from one small dark room and being put into a vent was not helping her. "No, Deeks, I can't! You go."

"I can't," Deeks argued calmly, "I won't fit. You're tiny, practically pocket sized, you'll be able to worm your way through and kick out the vent. Once outside you need to get to a phone and call Hetty or Eric- whoever you can get a hold of, okay."

"Deeks..." she looked up at the small opening with a sick feeling in her stomach.

"I can't do it Nell," Deeks said softly. "I'd go out there with you if I could, but I'd never be able to get my shoulders through such a narrow opening. The only other option we got is to wait for the guys with guns to come back and..." he really didn't want to say he couldn't take them because he'd fight to the death to protect her- but he'd probably be shot and bleeding out on the floor before he even got to throw in a punch. "This is the best option."

"And you just expect me to leave you here?"

"Yes!" Deeks responded quickly, "I can take care of myself Nell. I'll be okay, but I need you to go." He was the agent in this, he was suppose to be looking after her, and he'd heard every threat in the book from every agent, Eric and Hetty too. He'd promised that he'd bring her back safe and sound... but he'd be lucky at this point to get her back at all. He kissed her forehead. "I'm going to lift you, you're going to use your feet on the wall till you can get them through the hole and then shimmy forward till you're in, I'll have your shoulders, I won't let you fall."

Their options were slim pickings and Nell knew that Deeks was looking out for her, she needed to get out if they would have any chance of survival, and his survival was based on how quickly she could get to help. "Do it. Quick, before I freak out again."

He grabbed her under the arms and lifted her, she braced her back against his chest till her feet were on the wall and she got one up into the vent before getting the second. She wriggled and got the rest of her legs in and Deeks slid her in until it was just her head. "I'll bring help," she insisted.

"I'll be here," Deeks responded flashing her his carefree smile. "See you on the other side Nell."

"See you there Marty," she wriggled through the vent on her back trying to ward off a panic attack. Panicking didn't help, and she was rational, she knew that but she was terrified and Deeks's life was hanging in her hands. Her feet hit the vent and she started kicking for all it was worth. She kicked with everything that she had, and laughed out of relief when the grate fell hanging by it's last nail. "I got it!"

"I knew you could," he called back, "now go, get out of here!"

She wiggled till she was on her stomach, her legs dangling and dropped, it wasn't far but she landed poorly and fell to her bottom. Getting up she heard the door slam open, and a fight break out. She wanted to yell out his name, but knew he needed help not someone shouting at him so she took off running to the street she grabbed the first person she seen, "I need your phone!"

"Excuse me!" The man in the suit looked indignant for a moment before he noted the blood on her clothing and on her neck, "you're hurt? You need me to call an ambulance?"

"No, look I'm a federal agent!" Which technically she was, just not a field one. "My partner is in trouble I need your phone!"

The man pulled his phone quickly from his suit jacket and handed it to her. She quickly dialled the first number that came to mind.

"Who the hell is this?" Was how he answered the unfamiliar number.

"Eric!" She breathed out, "Deeks is in trouble who's closest?"

"Callen and Sam- dispatching them now, also filling in Kensi, she'll be an extra five or ten minutes out knowing how she drives." Nell quickly filled him in on where Deeks was, but knew there wasn't enough time to wait.

She hung up the phone and handed it back to the man before taking off in a sprint without so much as a thank you. She skidded to a halt in front of the building that they had been in and she moved in quickly and pulled the fire alarm. People were flooding out of the place but only two came in. "Callen! Sam!" She shouted.

"Nell," Callen held her tightly against his body, "where is Deeks?"

"I'll show you," she insisted pulling free from his arms and grabbing his hand.

"No, you'll wait outside."

"I have to finish this, you understand that, don't you?" Her eyes flashed dangerously.

He took out a small six shooter from an ankle holster, "safety," he pointed, "trigger, small calabur minimal recoil. Point and shoot." They both knew she wasn't trained with a gun, didn't have a license much less a badge but she knew that having something to use as an equalizer was the only way he was letting her go with them.

"Got it," she responded holding the weight in her hands.

Callen and Sam both shared a silent moment, "stay between us Nell," Sam said finally taking the back while Callen took the lead as they made their way through the building.

The sounds in the basement echoed, grunts of pain, and laughter of horrible men clawed at Nell. They were punishing him for helping her escape. Callen stopped at the doorway and Sam moved up beside him effectively shielding Nell. Callen moved in first but Sam was right on his side, "freeze, Federal Agents!"

Deeks was on the ground but sat up just enough to spit out blood and along with it one of his teeth, "good thing I got dental," he said with a crooked grin.

The CEO put up his hands slowly and his two guards did the same, Sam and Callen disarmed the men and cuffed all three. "You little bitch," the CEO spat at the ground in front of Nell, "I'll get you back for this."

Callen shoved the man back against the wall, "you'll have to go through the rest of us first. So good luck." He looked over at Nell and gave her a reassuring nod.

Kensi walked in behind Nell and put a strong hand on the other woman's shoulder as she looked at her partner, "you good Deeks?"

Deeks picked up his tooth from the blood, "how much is the tooth fairy handing out these days?"

Kensi had a slight smile upon her face, "I'll take that as a yes."

Other agents had taken the men into custody, Nell took one side of Deeks helping him up, Kensi taking the other. "What did I do to deserve two beautiful women at my side."

"I think you've taken one to many kicks to the head," Kensi muttered.

"I'm sorry Deeks," Nell whispered, "I... I completely panicked... and..."

"Don't," Deeks stopped walking and effectively stopped both people walking with him and Sam and Callen who were behind them. He put both of his hands heavily on her shoulders, "I'm fine, you're fine, the bad guys are going to jail and we're going out for a beer."

"No, you're going to the hospital," Kensi argued, "and then a dentist."

"And then a pub," Deeks insisted shooting a grin at his partner, but with his right eyetooth missing she could only snort back her laughter. He turned his attention back to Nell, "I was the agent on this case, it was my job to keep you safe and... I didn't do that job very well so, I'm the one who is sorry."

Nell shook her head, "things go bad in ops, it happens."

Deeks grinned, "very true." He was quiet for a minute but had started walking- or rather limping along- "I want ice cream with the beer."

"Kensi is rubbing off on you," Callen piped in from the back.

"She's often right about things, but don't tell her that. She gets big headed about it."

"If only you weren't injured," Kensi muttered.

When they walked outside the light of the day forced Deeks to stumble back and blink hard at the offending brightness. He never thought he would curse the California Sun, but in that moment he did. "Ice cream?"

"I'll bring you some," Nell said shooting him a smile.

"See you there then," he shared the smile before being dragged away by his partner.


End file.
